Star Trek
Pop-Up: Giant in
the Universe
Kay Wood
Random House, 1977
The retroitemunderscrutinythisissuewasa fortunatefindin
theback-issueoutletofmylocalcomicshop,Dave’sComics
inBrighton,andonceagainreinforcesthemessage– conveyed
oversuccessiveretroreviews– thatthereareallmannerof
StarTrekbooksandcollectiblesI hadnoideaexisted.Which
ratherbegsthequestion,whatexactlyqualifies metobeyour
retroreviewer...althoughsincepeoplehavesupposedlyhad
enoughofexpertsthesedays,youcouldargueI’mtheperfect
personforthejob.
GiantintheUniversewasthefirstoftwoStarTrekPop-Up
booksthatRandomHousepublishedin1977,theother
beingTrillionsof Trilligs. Writtenandillustrated,as faras I can
establish(therearenoauthorcreditsinthebookitself ),byKay
Wood– whoalsocreateda setofSesameStreetLittleLibrary
picturebooksforRandomHousethesameyear– it comprises
fourpop-upspreadsthatopenupintoverticalvistas.
I lovedpop-upbooksas a kid.I wasendlesslyfascinated
byJanPienkowski’s 1979 classicHauntedHouse(a fascination
nowsharedbymydaughter,Edie,afterI gavehera copy
ofthebook),andwhileGiantintheUniversedoesn’tquite
matchthefiendishingenuityofthatmasterwork,it doeshave
a charmofitsown.Seven-year-oldmewoulddefinitelyhave
beenimpressedbyit...althoughgiventhatI’mnotsureit was
evenpublishedintheUK,seven-year-oldmewouldneverhad
gothisgrubbymittsonit inthefirstplace.
Fortunately,40-something-year-oldmenowgetstoenjoy
it forthefirsttime(asdoesEdie).Verymuchaimedat kids,it
detailstheU.S.S.Enterprise’s “urgentmission,”as thetexthas
it,“toexplorea giganticunidentifiedplanet.”CaptainKirk,
Mr.Spock,andLieutenantScott“didnotknowwholived
there.Buttheirmissionwastofindout.”
It turnsoutthatwholivesthereis – surprise,surprise–
“a tremendousgiant,”whopromptlycapturesthelandingparty
“touseformyexperiments.MaybeI’llturnyouintogiants– or
feedyoutomyrats!”I’mnotsurethelatterstrictlyqualifies
as anexperiment,butinanycasethisis thebestspreadinthe
book,showingourhaplesstriohelplessunderglassjarsona
tabletop,withthehirsutegianttoweringoverthem.
Needlesstosay,Kirk,Spock,andScottyescape,and
thefinalspreadshowsthembeamingbacktotheEnterprise.
This is theonlyoneofthepop-upsinmycopythat’sslightly
faulty:Kirk’slegshavefoldedinalongthebook’sgutter,
givinghimanunfortunatecaseofgenurecurvatum(orknee
hyperextension),preventinghimfrompoppingupalongside
SpockandScotty.Still,consideringI onlypaidthreequidfor
thebook,that’sa minorcomplaint.NICK JONESBOOKS / RETRO REVIEW